User interactive application enabled gateway

ABSTRACT

The disclosure is related to providing interconnectivity between a plurality of user devices. A wireless interconnectivity device connects to a first user device of the plurality of user devices over a first local wireless network, connects to a second user device of the plurality of user devices over a second local wireless network, receives a request from the first user device to transfer data from the first user device to the second user device, determines whether or not a third user device has granted permission to transfer the data from the first user device to the second user device, and transfers the data from the first user device to the second user device based on the third user device having granted permission to transfer the data from the first user device to the second user device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application for patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/878,522, entitled “A USER INTERACTIVEAPPLICATION ENABLED GATEWAY,” filed Sep. 16, 2013, assigned to theassignee hereof, and expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to a user interactive application enabledgateway.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computers and computernetworks that use a standard Internet protocol suite (e.g., theTransmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP)) tocommunicate with each other. The Internet of Things (IoT) is based onthe idea that everyday objects, not just computers and computernetworks, can be readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, andcontrollable via an IoT communications network (e.g., an ad-hoc systemor the Internet).

A number of market trends are driving development of IoT devices. Forexample, increasing energy costs are driving governments' strategicinvestments in smart grids and support for future consumption, such asfor electric vehicles and public charging stations. Increasing healthcare costs and aging populations are driving development forremote/connected health care and fitness services. A technologicalrevolution in the home is driving development for new “smart” services,including consolidation by service providers marketing ‘N’ play (e.g.,data, voice, video, security, energy management, etc.) and expandinghome networks. Buildings are getting smarter and more convenient as ameans to reduce operational costs for enterprise facilities.

There are a number of key applications for the IoT. For example, in thearea of smart grids and energy management, utility companies canoptimize delivery of energy to homes and businesses while customers canbetter manage energy usage. In the area of home and building automation,smart homes and buildings can have centralized control over virtuallyany device or system in the home or office, from appliances to plug-inelectric vehicle (PEV) security systems. In the field of asset tracking,enterprises, hospitals, factories, and other large organizations canaccurately track the locations of high-value equipment, patients,vehicles, and so on. In the area of health and wellness, doctors canremotely monitor patients' health while people can track the progress offitness routines.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or moreaspects and/or embodiments associated with the mechanisms disclosedherein. As such, the following summary should not be considered anextensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects and/orembodiments, nor should the following summary be regarded to identifykey or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects and/orembodiments or to delineate the scope associated with any particularaspect and/or embodiment. Accordingly, the following summary has thesole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspectsand/or embodiments relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein for auser interactive application enabled gateway in a simplified form toprecede the detailed description presented below.

The disclosure is related to providing interconnectivity between aplurality of user devices performed by a wireless interconnectivitydevice. A method of providing interconnectivity between a plurality ofuser devices performed by a wireless interconnectivity device includesconnecting to a first user device of the plurality of user devices overa first local wireless network, connecting to a second user device ofthe plurality of user devices over a second local wireless network,receiving a request from the first user device to transfer data from thefirst user device to the second user device, determining whether or nota third user device has granted permission to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device, and transferring the datafrom the first user device to the second user device based on the thirduser device having granted permission to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device.

A wireless interconnectivity device for providing interconnectivitybetween a plurality of user devices includes a first transceiverconfigured to connect to a first user device of the plurality of userdevices over a first local wireless network, a second transceiverconfigured to connect to a second user device of the plurality of userdevices over a second local wireless network, wherein the firsttransceiver is further configured to receive a request from the firstuser device to transfer data from the first user device to the seconduser device, and a processor configured to determine whether or not athird user device has granted permission to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device, wherein the secondtransceiver is further configured to transfer the data from the firstuser device to the second user device based on the third user devicehaving granted permission to transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device.

An apparatus for providing interconnectivity between a plurality of userdevices includes logic configured to connect to a first user device ofthe plurality of user devices over a first local wireless network, logicconfigured to connect to a second user device of the plurality of userdevices over a second local wireless network, logic configured toreceive a request from the first user device to transfer data from thefirst user device to the second user device, logic configured todetermine whether or not a third user device has granted permission totransfer the data from the first user device to the second user device,and logic configured to transfer the data from the first user device tothe second user device based on the third user device having grantedpermission to transfer the data from the first user device to the seconduser device.

An apparatus for providing interconnectivity between a plurality of userdevices includes means for connecting to a first user device of theplurality of user devices over a first local wireless network, means forconnecting to a second user device of the plurality of user devices overa second local wireless network, means for receiving a request from thefirst user device to transfer data from the first user device to thesecond user device, means for determining whether or not a third userdevice has granted permission to transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device, and means for transferring the datafrom the first user device to the second user device based on the thirduser device having granted permission to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for providinginterconnectivity between a plurality of user devices includes at leastone instruction to cause a wireless interconnectivity device to connectto a first user device of the plurality of user devices over a firstlocal wireless network, at least one instruction to cause a wirelessinterconnectivity device to connect to a second user device of theplurality of user devices over a second local wireless network, at leastone instruction to cause a wireless interconnectivity device to receivea request from the first user device to transfer data from the firstuser device to the second user device, at least one instruction to causea wireless interconnectivity device to determine whether or not a thirduser device has granted permission to transfer the data from the firstuser device to the second user device, and at least one instruction tocause a wireless interconnectivity device to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device based on the third userdevice having granted permission to transfer the data from the firstuser device to the second user device.

Other objects and advantages associated with the mechanisms disclosedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on theaccompanying drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of aspects of the disclosure and many ofthe attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the samebecomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich are presented solely for illustration and not limitation of thedisclosure, and in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system in accordance with another aspect of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1C illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 1D illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 1E illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary Internet of Things (IoT) device inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure, while FIG. 2B illustrates anexemplary passive IoT device in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a communication device that includes logic configuredto perform functionality in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary server according to various aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless communication network that may supportdiscoverable peer-to-peer (P2P) services, in accordance with one aspectof the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary environment in which discoverable P2Pservices may be used to establish a proximity-based distributed bus overwhich various devices may communicate, in accordance with one aspect ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary message sequence in which discoverableP2P services may be used to establish a proximity-based distributed busover which various devices may communicate, in accordance with oneaspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system configuration for using a Cube toshare a playlist with a vehicle audio system.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an exemplary flow for using the Cubeillustrated in FIG. 8 to share a playlist with the vehicle audio systemillustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary flow for providing interconnectivitybetween a plurality of user devices according to the various embodimentsof the disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary wireless interconnectivity deviceaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are disclosed in the following description and relateddrawings to show specific examples relating to exemplary embodiments fora user interactive application enabled gateway. In an aspect, a wirelessinterconnectivity device can provide interconnectivity between aplurality of user devices. The interconnectivity device may connect to afirst user device of the plurality of user devices over a first localwireless network, connect to a second user device of the plurality ofuser devices over a second local wireless network, receive a requestfrom the first user device to transfer data from the first user deviceto the second user device, determine whether or not a third user devicehas granted permission to transfer the data from the first user deviceto the second user device, and transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device based on the third user device havinggranted permission to transfer the data from the first user device tothe second user device.

Alternate embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the pertinentart upon reading this disclosure, and may be constructed and practicedwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.Additionally, well-known elements will not be described in detail or maybe omitted so as to not obscure the relevant details of the aspects andembodiments disclosed herein.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments”does not require that all embodiments include the discussed feature,advantage or mode of operation.

The terminology used herein describes particular embodiments only andshould not be construed to limit any embodiments disclosed herein. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions tobe performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will berecognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence ofactions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of computer readable storage medium having storedtherein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon executionwould cause an associated processor to perform the functionalitydescribed herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may beembodied in a number of different forms, all of which have beencontemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Inaddition, for each of the aspects described herein, the correspondingform of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logicconfigured to” perform the described action.

As used herein, the term “Internet of Things device” (or “IoT device”)may refer to any object (e.g., an appliance, a sensor, a smartphone,etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., an Internet protocol (IP)address, a Bluetooth identifier (ID), a near-field communication (NFC)ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one or more other devices overa wired or wireless connection. An IoT device may have a passivecommunication interface, such as a quick response (QR) code, aradio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, an NFC tag, or the like, oran active communication interface, such as a modem, a transceiver, atransmitter-receiver, or the like. An IoT device can have a particularset of attributes (e.g., a device state or status, such as whether theIoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available fortask execution or busy, and so on, a cooling or heating function, anenvironmental monitoring or recording function, a light-emittingfunction, a sound-emitting function, etc.) that can be embedded inand/or controlled/monitored by a central processing unit (CPU),microprocessor, ASIC, or the like, and configured for connection to anIoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet. For example,IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators,toasters, ovens, microwaves, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools,clothes washers, clothes dryers, furnaces, air conditioners,thermostats, televisions, light fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers,electricity meters, gas meters, etc., so long as the devices areequipped with an addressable communications interface for communicatingwith the IoT network. IoT devices may also include cell phones(including smartphones), desktop computers, laptop computers, tabletcomputers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Accordingly, the IoTnetwork may be comprised of a combination of “legacy”Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, cellphones, etc.) in addition to devices that do not typically haveInternet-connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

FIG. 1A illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wirelesscommunications system 100A in accordance with an aspect of thedisclosure. The wireless communications system 100A contains a pluralityof IoT devices, which include a television 110, an outdoor airconditioning unit 112, a thermostat 114, a refrigerator 116, and awasher and dryer 118.

Referring to FIG. 1A, IoT devices 110-118 are configured to communicatewith an access network (e.g., an access point 125) over a physicalcommunications interface or layer, shown in FIG. 1A as air interface 108and a direct wired connection 109. The air interface 108 can comply witha wireless Internet protocol (IP), such as IEEE 802.11. Although FIG. 1Aillustrates IoT devices 110-118 communicating over the air interface 108and IoT device 118 communicating over the direct wired connection 109,each IoT device may communicate over a wired or wireless connection, orboth.

The Internet 175 includes a number of routing agents and processingagents (not shown in FIG. 1A for the sake of convenience). The Internet175 is a global system of interconnected computers and computer networksthat uses a standard Internet protocol suite (e.g., the TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP) and IP) to communicate among disparatedevices/networks. TCP/IP provides end-to-end connectivity specifying howdata should be formatted, addressed, transmitted, routed and received atthe destination.

In FIG. 1A, a computer 120, such as a desktop or personal computer (PC),is shown as connecting to the Internet 175 directly (e.g., over anEthernet connection or Wi-Fi or 802.11-based network). The computer 120may have a wired connection to the Internet 175, such as a directconnection to a modem or router, which, in an example, can correspond tothe access point 125 itself (e.g., for a Wi-Fi router with both wiredand wireless connectivity). Alternatively, rather than being connectedto the access point 125 and the Internet 175 over a wired connection,the computer 120 may be connected to the access point 125 over airinterface 108 or another wireless interface, and access the Internet 175over the air interface 108. Although illustrated as a desktop computer,computer 120 may be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a PDA, a smartphone, or the like. The computer 120 may be an IoT device and/or containfunctionality to manage an IoT network/group, such as the network/groupof IoT devices 110-118.

The access point 125 may be connected to the Internet 175 via, forexample, an optical communication system, such as FiOS, a cable modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, or the like. The access point 125may communicate with IoT devices 110-120 and the Internet 175 using thestandard Internet protocols (e.g., TCP/IP).

Referring to FIG. 1A, an IoT server 170 is shown as connected to theInternet 175. The IoT server 170 can be implemented as a plurality ofstructurally separate servers, or alternately may correspond to a singleserver. In an aspect, the IoT server 170 is optional (as indicated bythe dotted line), and the group of IoT devices 110-120 may be apeer-to-peer (P2P) network. In such a case, the IoT devices 110-120 cancommunicate with each other directly over the air interface 108 and/orthe direct wired connection 109. Alternatively, or additionally, some orall of IoT devices 110-120 may be configured with a communicationinterface independent of air interface 108 and direct wired connection109. For example, if the air interface 108 corresponds to a Wi-Fiinterface, one or more of the IoT devices 110-120 may have Bluetooth orNFC interfaces for communicating directly with each other or otherBluetooth or NFC-enabled devices.

In a peer-to-peer network, service discovery schemes can multicast thepresence of nodes, their capabilities, and group membership. Thepeer-to-peer devices can establish associations and subsequentinteractions based on this information.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1B illustrates ahigh-level architecture of another wireless communications system 100Bthat contains a plurality of IoT devices. In general, the wirelesscommunications system 100B shown in FIG. 1B may include variouscomponents that are the same and/or substantially similar to thewireless communications system 100A shown in FIG. 1A, which wasdescribed in greater detail above (e.g., various IoT devices, includinga television 110, outdoor air conditioning unit 112, thermostat 114,refrigerator 116, and washer and dryer 118, that are configured tocommunicate with an access point 125 over an air interface 108 and/or adirect wired connection 109, a computer 120 that directly connects tothe Internet 175 and/or connects to the Internet 175 through accesspoint 125, and an IoT server 170 accessible via the Internet 175, etc.).As such, for brevity and ease of description, various details relatingto certain components in the wireless communications system 100B shownin FIG. 1B may be omitted herein to the extent that the same or similardetails have already been provided above in relation to the wirelesscommunications system 100A illustrated in FIG. 1A.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the wireless communications system 100B mayinclude a supervisor device 130, which may alternatively be referred toas an IoT manager 130 or IoT manager device 130. As such, where thefollowing description uses the term “supervisor device” 130, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that any references to an IoTmanager, group owner, or similar terminology may refer to the supervisordevice 130 or another physical or logical component that provides thesame or substantially similar functionality.

In one embodiment, the supervisor device 130 may generally observe,monitor, control, or otherwise manage the various other components inthe wireless communications system 100B. For example, the supervisordevice 130 can communicate with an access network (e.g., access point125) over air interface 108 and/or a direct wired connection 109 tomonitor or manage attributes, activities, or other states associatedwith the various IoT devices 110-120 in the wireless communicationssystem 100B. The supervisor device 130 may have a wired or wirelessconnection to the Internet 175 and optionally to the IoT server 170(shown as a dotted line). The supervisor device 130 may obtaininformation from the Internet 175 and/or the IoT server 170 that can beused to further monitor or manage attributes, activities, or otherstates associated with the various IoT devices 110-120. The supervisordevice 130 may be a standalone device or one of IoT devices 110-120,such as computer 120. The supervisor device 130 may be a physical deviceor a software application running on a physical device. The supervisordevice 130 may include a user interface that can output informationrelating to the monitored attributes, activities, or other statesassociated with the IoT devices 110-120 and receive input information tocontrol or otherwise manage the attributes, activities, or other statesassociated therewith. Accordingly, the supervisor device 130 maygenerally include various components and support various wired andwireless communication interfaces to observe, monitor, control, orotherwise manage the various components in the wireless communicationssystem 100B.

The wireless communications system 100B shown in FIG. 1B may include oneor more passive IoT devices 105 (in contrast to the active IoT devices110-120) that can be coupled to or otherwise made part of the wirelesscommunications system 100B. In general, the passive IoT devices 105 mayinclude barcoded devices, Bluetooth devices, radio frequency (RF)devices, RFID tagged devices, infrared (IR) devices, NFC tagged devices,or any other suitable device that can provide its identifier andattributes to another device when queried over a short range interface.Active IoT devices may detect, store, communicate, act on, and/or thelike, changes in attributes of passive IoT devices.

For example, passive IoT devices 105 may include a coffee cup and acontainer of orange juice that each have an RFID tag or barcode. Acabinet IoT device and the refrigerator IoT device 116 may each have anappropriate scanner or reader that can read the RFID tag or barcode todetect when the coffee cup and/or the container of orange juice passiveIoT devices 105 have been added or removed. In response to the cabinetIoT device detecting the removal of the coffee cup passive IoT device105 and the refrigerator IoT device 116 detecting the removal of thecontainer of orange juice passive IoT device, the supervisor device 130may receive one or more signals that relate to the activities detectedat the cabinet IoT device and the refrigerator IoT device 116. Thesupervisor device 130 may then infer that a user is drinking orangejuice from the coffee cup and/or likes to drink orange juice from acoffee cup.

Although the foregoing describes the passive IoT devices 105 as havingsome form of RFID tag or barcode communication interface, the passiveIoT devices 105 may include one or more devices or other physicalobjects that do not have such communication capabilities. For example,certain IoT devices may have appropriate scanner or reader mechanismsthat can detect shapes, sizes, colors, and/or other observable featuresassociated with the passive IoT devices 105 to identify the passive IoTdevices 105. In this manner, any suitable physical object maycommunicate its identity and attributes and become part of the wirelesscommunication system 100B and be observed, monitored, controlled, orotherwise managed with the supervisor device 130. Further, passive IoTdevices 105 may be coupled to or otherwise made part of the wirelesscommunications system 100A in FIG. 1A and observed, monitored,controlled, or otherwise managed in a substantially similar manner.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1C illustratesa high-level architecture of another wireless communications system 100Cthat contains a plurality of IoT devices. In general, the wirelesscommunications system 100C shown in FIG. 1C may include variouscomponents that are the same and/or substantially similar to thewireless communications systems 100A and 100B shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B,respectively, which were described in greater detail above. As such, forbrevity and ease of description, various details relating to certaincomponents in the wireless communications system 100C shown in FIG. 1Cmay be omitted herein to the extent that the same or similar detailshave already been provided above in relation to the wirelesscommunications systems 100A and 100B illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B,respectively.

The communications system 100C shown in FIG. 1C illustrates exemplarypeer-to-peer communications between the IoT devices 110-118 and thesupervisor device 130. As shown in FIG. 1C, the supervisor device 130communicates with each of the IoT devices 110-118 over an IoT supervisorinterface. Further, IoT devices 110 and 114, IoT devices 112, 114, and116, and IoT devices 116 and 118, communicate directly with each other.

The IoT devices 110-118 make up an IoT group 160. An IoT device group160 is a group of locally connected IoT devices, such as the IoT devicesconnected to a user's home network. Although not shown, multiple IoTdevice groups may be connected to and/or communicate with each other viaan IoT SuperAgent 140 connected to the Internet 175. At a high level,the supervisor device 130 manages intra-group communications, while theIoT SuperAgent 140 can manage inter-group communications. Although shownas separate devices, the supervisor device 130 and the IoT SuperAgent140 may be, or reside on, the same device (e.g., a standalone device oran IoT device, such as computer 120 in FIG. 1A). Alternatively, the IoTSuperAgent 140 may correspond to or include the functionality of theaccess point 125. As yet another alternative, the IoT SuperAgent 140 maycorrespond to or include the functionality of an IoT server, such as IoTserver 170. The IoT SuperAgent 140 may encapsulate gateway functionality145.

Each IoT device 110-118 can treat the supervisor device 130 as a peerand transmit attribute/schema updates to the supervisor device 130. Whenan IoT device needs to communicate with another IoT device, it canrequest the pointer to that IoT device from the supervisor device 130and then communicate with the target IoT device as a peer. The IoTdevices 110-118 communicate with each other over a peer-to-peercommunication network using a common messaging protocol (CMP). As longas two IoT devices are CMP-enabled and connected over a commoncommunication transport, they can communicate with each other. In theprotocol stack, the CMP layer 154 is below the application layer 152 andabove the transport layer 156 and the physical layer 158.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1D illustratesa high-level architecture of another wireless communications system 100Dthat contains a plurality of IoT devices. In general, the wirelesscommunications system 100D shown in FIG. 1D may include variouscomponents that are the same and/or substantially similar to thewireless communications systems 100A-C shown in FIGS. 1-C, respectively,which were described in greater detail above. As such, for brevity andease of description, various details relating to certain components inthe wireless communications system 100D shown in FIG. 1D may be omittedherein to the extent that the same or similar details have already beenprovided above in relation to the wireless communications systems 100A-Cillustrated in FIGS. 1A-C, respectively.

The Internet 175 is a “resource” that can be regulated using the conceptof the IoT. However, the Internet 175 is just one example of a resourcethat is regulated, and any resource could be regulated using the conceptof the IoT. Other resources that can be regulated include, but are notlimited to, electricity, gas, storage, security, and the like. An IoTdevice may be connected to the resource and thereby regulate it, or theresource could be regulated over the Internet 175. FIG. 1D illustratesseveral resources 180, such as natural gas, gasoline, hot water, andelectricity, wherein the resources 180 can be regulated in addition toand/or over the Internet 175.

IoT devices can communicate with each other to regulate their use of aresource 180. For example, IoT devices such as a toaster, a computer,and a hairdryer may communicate with each other over a Bluetoothcommunication interface to regulate their use of electricity (theresource 180). As another example, IoT devices such as a desktopcomputer, a telephone, and a tablet computer may communicate over aWi-Fi communication interface to regulate their access to the Internet175 (the resource 180). As yet another example, IoT devices such as astove, a clothes dryer, and a water heater may communicate over a Wi-Ficommunication interface to regulate their use of gas. Alternatively, oradditionally, each IoT device may be connected to an IoT server, such asIoT server 170, which has logic to regulate their use of the resource180 based on information received from the IoT devices.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 1E illustratesa high-level architecture of another wireless communications system 100Ethat contains a plurality of IoT devices. In general, the wirelesscommunications system 100E shown in FIG. 1E may include variouscomponents that are the same and/or substantially similar to thewireless communications systems 100A-D shown in FIGS. 1-D, respectively,which were described in greater detail above. As such, for brevity andease of description, various details relating to certain components inthe wireless communications system 100E shown in FIG. 1E may be omittedherein to the extent that the same or similar details have already beenprovided above in relation to the wireless communications systems 100A-Dillustrated in FIGS. 1A-D, respectively.

The communications system 100E includes two IoT device groups 160A and160B. Multiple IoT device groups may be connected to and/or communicatewith each other via an IoT SuperAgent connected to the Internet 175. Ata high level, an IoT SuperAgent may manage inter-group communicationsamong IoT device groups. For example, in FIG. 1E, the IoT device group160A includes IoT devices 116A, 122A, and 124A and an IoT SuperAgent140A, while IoT device group 160B includes IoT devices 116B, 122B, and124B and an IoT SuperAgent 140B. As such, the IoT SuperAgents 140A and140B may connect to the Internet 175 and communicate with each otherover the Internet 175 and/or communicate with each other directly tofacilitate communication between the IoT device groups 160A and 160B.Furthermore, although FIG. 1E illustrates two IoT device groups 160A and160B communicating with each other via IoT SuperAgents 140A and 140B,those skilled in the art will appreciate that any number of IoT devicegroups may suitably communicate with each other using IoT SuperAgents.

FIG. 2A illustrates a high-level example of an IoT device 200A inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure. While external appearancesand/or internal components can differ significantly among IoT devices,most IoT devices will have some sort of user interface, which maycomprise a display and a means for user input. IoT devices without auser interface can be communicated with remotely over a wired orwireless network, such as air interface 108 in FIGS. 1A-B.

As shown in FIG. 2A, in an example configuration for the IoT device200A, an external casing of IoT device 200A may be configured with adisplay 226, a power button 222, and two control buttons 224A and 224B,among other components, as is known in the art. The display 226 may be atouchscreen display, in which case the control buttons 224A and 224B maynot be necessary. While not shown explicitly as part of IoT device 200A,the IoT device 200A may include one or more external antennas and/or oneor more integrated antennas that are built into the external casing,including but not limited to Wi-Fi antennas, cellular antennas,satellite position system (SPS) antennas (e.g., global positioningsystem (GPS) antennas), and so on.

While internal components of IoT devices, such as IoT device 200A, canbe embodied with different hardware configurations, a basic high-levelconfiguration for internal hardware components is shown as platform 202in FIG. 2A. The platform 202 can receive and execute softwareapplications, data and/or commands transmitted over a network interface,such as air interface 108 in FIGS. 1A-B and/or a wired interface. Theplatform 202 can also independently execute locally stored applications.The platform 202 can include one or more transceivers 206 configured forwired and/or wireless communication (e.g., a Wi-Fi transceiver, aBluetooth transceiver, a cellular transceiver, a satellite transceiver,a GPS or SPS receiver, etc.) operably coupled to one or more processors208, such as a microcontroller, microprocessor, application specificintegrated circuit, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable logiccircuit, or other data processing device, which will be generallyreferred to as processor 208. The processor 208 can execute applicationprogramming instructions within a memory 212 of the IoT device. Thememory 212 can include one or more of read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash cards, or any memory common to computer platforms. Oneor more input/output (I/O) interfaces 214 can be configured to allow theprocessor 208 to communicate with and control from various I/O devicessuch as the display 226, power button 222, control buttons 224A and 224Bas illustrated, and any other devices, such as sensors, actuators,relays, valves, switches, and the like associated with the IoT device200A.

FIG. 2B illustrates a high-level example of a passive IoT device 200B inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure. In general, the passive IoTdevice 200B shown in FIG. 2B may include various components that are thesame and/or substantially similar to the IoT device 200A shown in FIG.2A, which was described in greater detail above. As such, for brevityand ease of description, various details relating to certain componentsin the passive IoT device 200B shown in FIG. 2B may be omitted herein tothe extent that the same or similar details have already been providedabove in relation to the IoT device 200A illustrated in FIG. 2A.

The passive IoT device 200B shown in FIG. 2B may generally differ fromthe IoT device 200A shown in FIG. 2A in that the passive IoT device 200Bmay not have a processor, internal memory, or certain other components.Instead, in one embodiment, the passive IoT device 200B may only includean I/O interface 214 or other suitable mechanism that allows the passiveIoT device 200B to be observed, monitored, controlled, managed, orotherwise known within a controlled IoT network. For example, in oneembodiment, the I/O interface 214 associated with the passive IoT device200B may include a barcode, Bluetooth interface, radio frequency (RF)interface, RFID tag, IR interface, NFC interface, or any other suitableI/O interface that can provide an identifier and attributes associatedwith the passive IoT device 200B to another device when queried over ashort range interface (e.g., an active IoT device, such as IoT device200A, that can detect, store, communicate, act on, or otherwise processinformation relating to the attributes associated with the passive IoTdevice 200B).

Although the foregoing describes the passive IoT device 200B as havingsome form of RF, barcode, or other I/O interface 214, the passive IoTdevice 200B may comprise a device or other physical object that does nothave such an I/O interface 214. For example, certain IoT devices mayhave appropriate scanner or reader mechanisms that can detect shapes,sizes, colors, and/or other observable features associated with thepassive IoT device 200B to identify the passive IoT device 200B. In thismanner, any suitable physical object may communicate its identity andattributes and be observed, monitored, controlled, or otherwise managedwithin a controlled IoT network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a communication device 300 that includes logicconfigured to perform functionality. The communication device 300 cancorrespond to any of the above-noted communication devices, includingbut not limited to IoT devices 110-120, IoT device 200A, any componentscoupled to the Internet 175 (e.g., the IoT server 170), and so on. Thus,communication device 300 can correspond to any electronic device that isconfigured to communicate with (or facilitate communication with) one ormore other entities over the wireless communications systems 100A-B ofFIGS. 1A-B.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 includes logicconfigured to receive and/or transmit information 305. In an example, ifthe communication device 300 corresponds to a wireless communicationsdevice (e.g., IoT device 200A and/or passive IoT device 200B), the logicconfigured to receive and/or transmit information 305 can include awireless communications interface (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct,Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Direct, etc.) such as a wireless transceiverand associated hardware (e.g., an RF antenna, a MODEM, a modulatorand/or demodulator, etc.). In another example, the logic configured toreceive and/or transmit information 305 can correspond to a wiredcommunications interface (e.g., a serial connection, a USB or Firewireconnection, an Ethernet connection through which the Internet 175 can beaccessed, etc.). Thus, if the communication device 300 corresponds tosome type of network-based server (e.g., the IoT server 170), the logicconfigured to receive and/or transmit information 305 can correspond toan Ethernet card, in an example, that connects the network-based serverto other communication entities via an Ethernet protocol. In a furtherexample, the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 305can include sensory or measurement hardware by which the communicationdevice 300 can monitor its local environment (e.g., an accelerometer, atemperature sensor, a light sensor, an antenna for monitoring local RFsignals, etc.). The logic configured to receive and/or transmitinformation 305 can also include software that, when executed, permitsthe associated hardware of the logic configured to receive and/ortransmit information 305 to perform its reception and/or transmissionfunction(s). However, the logic configured to receive and/or transmitinformation 305 does not correspond to software alone, and the logicconfigured to receive and/or transmit information 305 relies at least inpart upon hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further includes logicconfigured to process information 310. In an example, the logicconfigured to process information 310 can include at least a processor.Example implementations of the type of processing that can be performedby the logic configured to process information 310 includes but is notlimited to performing determinations, establishing connections, makingselections between different information options, performing evaluationsrelated to data, interacting with sensors coupled to the communicationdevice 300 to perform measurement operations, converting informationfrom one format to another (e.g., between different protocols such as.wmv to .avi, etc.), and so on. For example, the processor included inthe logic configured to process information 310 can correspond to ageneral purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, theprocessor may be any conventional processor, controller,microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implementedas a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP anda microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration). The logic configured to process information 310 can alsoinclude software that, when executed, permits the associated hardware ofthe logic configured to process information 310 to perform itsprocessing function(s). However, the logic configured to processinformation 310 does not correspond to software alone, and the logicconfigured to process information 310 relies at least in part uponhardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further includes logicconfigured to store information 315. In an example, the logic configuredto store information 315 can include at least a non-transitory memoryand associated hardware (e.g., a memory controller, etc.). For example,the non-transitory memory included in the logic configured to storeinformation 315 can correspond to RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasableprogrammable ROM (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removabledisk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art.The logic configured to store information 315 can also include softwarethat, when executed, permits the associated hardware of the logicconfigured to store information 315 to perform its storage function(s).However, the logic configured to store information 315 does notcorrespond to software alone, and the logic configured to storeinformation 315 relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve itsfunctionality.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further optionallyincludes logic configured to present information 320. In an example, thelogic configured to present information 320 can include at least anoutput device and associated hardware. For example, the output devicecan include a video output device (e.g., a display screen, a port thatcan carry video information such as USB, HDMI, etc.), an audio outputdevice (e.g., speakers, a port that can carry audio information such asa microphone jack, USB, HDMI, etc.), a vibration device and/or any otherdevice by which information can be formatted for output or actuallyoutputted by a user or operator of the communication device 300. Forexample, if the communication device 300 corresponds to the IoT device200A as shown in FIG. 2A and/or the passive IoT device 200B as shown inFIG. 2B, the logic configured to present information 320 can include thedisplay 226. In a further example, the logic configured to presentinformation 320 can be omitted for certain communication devices, suchas network communication devices that do not have a local user (e.g.,network switches or routers, remote servers, etc.). The logic configuredto present information 320 can also include software that, whenexecuted, permits the associated hardware of the logic configured topresent information 320 to perform its presentation function(s).However, the logic configured to present information 320 does notcorrespond to software alone, and the logic configured to presentinformation 320 relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve itsfunctionality.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication device 300 further optionallyincludes logic configured to receive local user input 325. In anexample, the logic configured to receive local user input 325 caninclude at least a user input device and associated hardware. Forexample, the user input device can include buttons, a touchscreendisplay, a keyboard, a camera, an audio input device (e.g., a microphoneor a port that can carry audio information such as a microphone jack,etc.), and/or any other device by which information can be received froma user or operator of the communication device 300. For example, if thecommunication device 300 corresponds to the IoT device 200A as shown inFIG. 2A and/or the passive IoT device 200B as shown in FIG. 2B, thelogic configured to receive local user input 325 can include the buttons222, 224A, and 224B, the display 226 (if a touchscreen), etc. In afurther example, the logic configured to receive local user input 325can be omitted for certain communication devices, such as networkcommunication devices that do not have a local user (e.g., networkswitches or routers, remote servers, etc.). The logic configured toreceive local user input 325 can also include software that, whenexecuted, permits the associated hardware of the logic configured toreceive local user input 325 to perform its input reception function(s).However, the logic configured to receive local user input 325 does notcorrespond to software alone, and the logic configured to receive localuser input 325 relies at least in part upon hardware to achieve itsfunctionality.

Referring to FIG. 3, while the configured logics of 305 through 325 areshown as separate or distinct blocks in FIG. 3, it will be appreciatedthat the hardware and/or software by which the respective configuredlogic performs its functionality can overlap in part. For example, anysoftware used to facilitate the functionality of the configured logicsof 305 through 325 can be stored in the non-transitory memory associatedwith the logic configured to store information 315, such that theconfigured logics of 305 through 325 each performs their functionality(i.e., in this case, software execution) based in part upon theoperation of software stored by the logic configured to storeinformation 315. Likewise, hardware that is directly associated with oneof the configured logics can be borrowed or used by other configuredlogics from time to time. For example, the processor of the logicconfigured to process information 310 can format data into anappropriate format before being transmitted by the logic configured toreceive and/or transmit information 305, such that the logic configuredto receive and/or transmit information 305 performs its functionality(i.e., in this case, transmission of data) based in part upon theoperation of hardware (i.e., the processor) associated with the logicconfigured to process information 310.

Generally, unless stated otherwise explicitly, the phrase “logicconfigured to” as used throughout this disclosure is intended to invokean aspect that is at least partially implemented with hardware, and isnot intended to map to software-only implementations that areindependent of hardware. Also, it will be appreciated that theconfigured logic or “logic configured to” in the various blocks are notlimited to specific logic gates or elements, but generally refer to theability to perform the functionality described herein (either viahardware or a combination of hardware and software). Thus, theconfigured logics or “logic configured to” as illustrated in the variousblocks are not necessarily implemented as logic gates or logic elementsdespite sharing the word “logic.” Other interactions or cooperationbetween the logic in the various blocks will become clear to one ofordinary skill in the art from a review of the aspects described belowin more detail.

The various embodiments may be implemented on any of a variety ofcommercially available server devices, such as server 400 illustrated inFIG. 4. In an example, the server 400 may correspond to one exampleconfiguration of the IoT server 170 described above. In FIG. 4, theserver 400 includes a processor 401 coupled to volatile memory 402 and alarge capacity nonvolatile memory, such as a disk drive 403. The server400 may also include a floppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or DVD discdrive 406 coupled to the processor 401. The server 400 may also includenetwork access ports 404 coupled to the processor 401 for establishingdata connections with a network 407, such as a local area networkcoupled to other broadcast system computers and servers or to theInternet. In context with FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that the server400 of FIG. 4 illustrates one example implementation of thecommunication device 300, whereby the logic configured to transmitand/or receive information 305 corresponds to the network access points404 used by the server 400 to communicate with the network 407, thelogic configured to process information 310 corresponds to the processor401, and the logic configuration to store information 315 corresponds toany combination of the volatile memory 402, the disk drive 403 and/orthe disc drive 406. The optional logic configured to present information320 and the optional logic configured to receive local user input 325are not shown explicitly in FIG. 4 and may or may not be includedtherein. Thus, FIG. 4 helps to demonstrate that the communication device300 may be implemented as a server, in addition to an IoT deviceimplementation as in FIG. 2A.

In general, user equipments (UEs), such as telephones, tablet computers,laptop and desktop computers, certain vehicles, etc., can be configuredto connect with each other either locally (e.g., Bluetooth, local Wi-Fi,etc.) or remotely (e.g., via cellular networks, through the Internet,etc.). Furthermore, certain UEs may also support proximity-basedpeer-to-peer (P2P) communication using certain wireless networkingtechnologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, etc.) that enabledevices to make a one-to-one connection or simultaneously connect to agroup that includes several devices in order to directly communicatewith one another. To that end, FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary wirelesscommunication network or WAN 500 that may support discoverable P2Pservices. For example, in one embodiment, the wireless communicationnetwork 500 may comprise an LTE network or another suitable WAN thatincludes various base stations 510 and other network entities. Forsimplicity, only three base stations 510 a, 510 b and 510 c, one networkcontroller 530, and one Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)server 540 are shown in FIG. 5. A base station 510 may be an entity thatcommunicates with devices 520 and may also be referred to as a Node B,an evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 510 mayprovide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and maysupport communication for the devices 520 located within the coveragearea. To improve network capacity, the overall coverage area of a basestation 510 may be partitioned into multiple (e.g., three) smallerareas, wherein each smaller area may be served by a respective basestation 510. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of abase station 510 and/or a base station subsystem 510 serving thiscoverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In3GPP2, the term “sector” or “cell-sector” can refer to a coverage areaof a base station 510 and/or a base station subsystem 510 serving thiscoverage area. For clarity, the 3GPP concept of “cell” may be used inthe description herein.

A base station 510 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell,a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other cell types. A macro cell maycover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers inradius) and may allow unrestricted access by devices 520 with servicesubscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic areaand may allow unrestricted access by devices 520 with servicesubscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area(e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by devices 520 havingassociation with the femto cell (e.g., devices 520 in a ClosedSubscriber Group (CSG)). In the example shown in FIG. 5, wirelessnetwork 500 includes macro base stations 510 a, 510 b and 510 c formacro cells. Wireless network 500 may also include pico base stations510 for pico cells and/or home base stations 510 for femto cells (notshown in FIG. 5).

Network controller 530 may couple to a set of base stations 510 and mayprovide coordination and control for these base stations 510. Networkcontroller 530 may be a single network entity or a collection of networkentities that can communicate with the base stations via a backhaul. Thebase stations may also communicate with one another, e.g., directly orindirectly via wireless or wireline backhaul. DHCP server 540 maysupport P2P communication, as described below. DHCP server 540 may bepart of wireless network 500, external to wireless network 500, run viaInternet Connection Sharing (ICS), or any suitable combination thereof.DHCP server 540 may be a separate entity (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5) ormay be part of a base station 510, network controller 530, or some otherentity. In any case, DHCP server 540 may be reachable by devices 520desiring to communicate peer-to-peer.

Devices 520 may be dispersed throughout wireless network 500, and eachdevice 520 may be stationary or mobile. A device 520 may also bereferred to as a node, user equipment (UE), a station, a mobile station,a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, etc. A device 520 maybe a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wirelessmodem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptopcomputer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a smartphone, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, etc. A device 520 maycommunicate with base stations 510 in the wireless network 500 and mayfurther communicate peer-to-peer with other devices 520. For example, asshown in FIG. 5, devices 520 a and 520 b may communicate peer-to-peer,devices 520 c and 520 d may communicate peer-to-peer, devices 520 e and520 f may communicate peer-to-peer, and devices 520 g, 520 h, and 520 imay communicate peer-to-peer, while remaining devices 520 maycommunicate with base stations 510. As further shown in FIG. 5, devices520 a, 520 d, 520 f, and 520 h may also communicate with base stations500, e.g., when not engaged in P2P communication or possibly concurrentwith P2P communication.

In the description herein, WAN communication may refer to communicationbetween a device 520 and a base station 510 in wireless network 500,e.g., for a call with a remote entity such as another device 520. A WANdevice is a device 520 that is interested or engaged in WANcommunication. P2P communication refers to direct communication betweentwo or more devices 520, without going through any base station 510. AP2P device is a device 520 that is interested or engaged in P2Pcommunication, e.g., a device 520 that has traffic data for anotherdevice 520 within proximity of the P2P device. Two devices may beconsidered to be within proximity of one another, for example, if eachdevice 520 can detect the other device 520. In general, a device 520 maycommunicate with another device 520 either directly for P2Pcommunication or via at least one base station 510 for WANcommunication.

In one embodiment, direct communication between P2P devices 520 may beorganized into P2P groups. More particularly, a P2P group generallyrefers to a group of two or more devices 520 interested or engaged inP2P communication and a P2P link refers to a communication link for aP2P group. Furthermore, in one embodiment, a P2P group may include onedevice 520 designated a P2P group owner (or a P2P server) and one ormore devices 520 designated P2P clients that are served by the P2P groupowner. The P2P group owner may perform certain management functions suchas exchanging signaling with a WAN, coordinating data transmissionbetween the P2P group owner and P2P clients, etc. For example, as shownin FIG. 5, a first P2P group includes devices 520 a and 520 b under thecoverage of base station 510 a, a second P2P group includes devices 520c and 520 d under the coverage of base station 510 b, a third P2P groupincludes devices 520 e and 520 f under the coverage of different basestations 510 b and 510 c, and a fourth P2P group includes devices 520 g,520 h and 520 i under the coverage of base station 510 c. Devices 520 a,520 d, 520 f, and 520 h may be P2P group owners for their respective P2Pgroups and devices 520 b, 520 c, 520 e, 520 g, and 520 i may be P2Pclients in their respective P2P groups. The other devices 520 in FIG. 5may be engaged in WAN communication.

In one embodiment, P2P communication may occur only within a P2P groupand may further occur only between the P2P group owner and the P2Pclients associated therewith. For example, if two P2P clients within thesame P2P group (e.g., devices 520 g and 520 i) desire to exchangeinformation, one of the P2P clients may send the information to the P2Pgroup owner (e.g., device 520 h) and the P2P group owner may then relaytransmissions to the other P2P client. In one embodiment, a particulardevice 520 may belong to multiple P2P groups and may behave as either aP2P group owner or a P2P client in each P2P group. Furthermore, in oneembodiment, a particular P2P client may belong to only one P2P group orbelong to multiple P2P group and communicate with P2P devices 520 in anyof the multiple P2P groups at any particular moment. In general,communication may be facilitated via transmissions on the downlink anduplink. For WAN communication, the downlink (or forward link) refers tothe communication link from base stations 510 to devices 520, and theuplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from devices520 to base stations 510. For P2P communication, the P2P downlink refersto the communication link from P2P group owners to P2P clients and theP2P uplink refers to the communication link from P2P clients to P2Pgroup owners. In certain embodiments, rather than using WAN technologiesto communicate P2P, two or more devices may form smaller P2P groups andcommunicate P2P on a wireless local area network (WLAN) usingtechnologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi Direct. For example, P2Pcommunication using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or other WLANtechnologies may enable P2P communication between two or more mobilephones, game consoles, laptop computers, or other suitable communicationentities.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 6 illustrates anexemplary environment 600 in which discoverable P2P services may be usedto establish a proximity-based distributed bus over which variousdevices 610, 630, 640 may communicate. For example, in one embodiment,communications between applications and the like, on a single platformmay be facilitated using an interprocess communication protocol (IPC)framework over the distributed bus 625, which may comprise a softwarebus used to enable application-to-application communications in anetworked computing environment where applications register with thedistributed bus 625 to offer services to other applications and otherapplications query the distributed bus 625 for information aboutregistered applications. Such a protocol may provide asynchronousnotifications and remote procedure calls (RPCs) in which signal messages(e.g., notifications) may be point-to-point or broadcast, method callmessages (e.g., RPCs) may be synchronous or asynchronous, and thedistributed bus 625 (e.g., a “daemon” bus process) may handle messagerouting between the various devices 610, 630, 640.

In one embodiment, the distributed bus 625 may be supported by a varietyof transport protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, CDMA, GPRS,UMTS, etc.). For example, according to one aspect, a first device 610may include a distributed bus node 612 and one or more local endpoints614, wherein the distributed bus node 612 may facilitate communicationsbetween local endpoints 614 associated with the first device 610 andlocal endpoints 634 and 644 associated with a second device 630 and athird device 640 through the distributed bus 625 (e.g., via distributedbus nodes 632 and 642 on the second device 630 and the third device640). As will be described in further detail below with reference toFIG. 7, the distributed bus 625 may support symmetric multi-devicenetwork topologies and may provide a robust operation in the presence ofdevice drops-outs. As such, the virtual distributed bus 625, which maygenerally be independent from any underlying transport protocol (e.g.,Bluetooth, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, etc.) may allow various security options, fromunsecured (e.g., open) to secured (e.g., authenticated and encrypted),wherein the security options can be used while facilitating spontaneousconnections with among the first device 610, the second device 630, andthe third device 640 without intervention when the various devices 610,630, 640 come into range or proximity to each other.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, FIG. 7 illustrates anexemplary message sequence 700 in which discoverable P2P services may beused to establish a proximity-based distributed bus over which a firstdevice (“Device A”) 710 and a second device (“Device B”) 730 maycommunicate. Generally, Device A 710 may request to communicate withDevice B 730, wherein Device A 710 may a include local endpoint 714(e.g., a local application, service, etc.), which may make a request tocommunicate in addition to a bus node 712 that may assist infacilitating such communications. Further, Device B 730 may include alocal endpoint 734 with which the local endpoint 714 may be attemptingto communicate in addition to a bus node 732 that may assist infacilitating communications between the local endpoint 714 on the DeviceA 710 and the local endpoint 734 on Device B 730.

In one embodiment, the bus nodes 712 and 732 may perform a suitablediscovery mechanism at message sequence step 754. For example,mechanisms for discovering connections supported by Bluetooth, TCP/IP,UNIX, or the like may be used. At message sequence step 756, the localendpoint 714 on Device A 710 may request to connect to an entity,service, endpoint etc, available through bus node 712. In oneembodiment, the request may include a request-and-response processbetween local endpoint 714 and bus node 712. At message sequence step758, a distributed message bus may be formed to connect bus node 712 tobus node 732 and thereby establish a P2P connection between Device A 710and Device B 730. In one embodiment, communications to form thedistributed bus between the bus nodes 712 and 732 may be facilitatedusing a suitable proximity-based P2P protocol (e.g., the AllJoyn™software framework designed to enable interoperability among connectedproducts and software applications from different manufacturers todynamically create proximal networks and facilitate proximal P2Pcommunication). Alternatively, in one embodiment, a server (not shown)may facilitate the connection between the bus nodes 712 and 732.Furthermore, in one embodiment, a suitable authentication mechanism maybe used prior to forming the connection between bus nodes 712 and 732(e.g., SASL authentication in which a client may send an authenticationcommand to initiate an authentication conversation). Still further,during message sequence step 758, bus nodes 712 and 732 may exchangeinformation about other available endpoints (e.g., local endpoints 644on Device C 640 in FIG. 6). In such embodiments, each local endpointthat a bus node maintains may be advertised to other bus nodes, whereinthe advertisement may include unique endpoint names, transport types,connection parameters, or other suitable information.

In one embodiment, at message sequence step 760, bus node 712 and busnode 732 may use obtained information associated with the localendpoints 734 and 714, respectively, to create virtual endpoints thatmay represent the real obtained endpoints available through various busnodes. In one embodiment, message routing on the bus node 712 may usereal and virtual endpoints to deliver messages. Further, there may onelocal virtual endpoint for every endpoint that exists on remote devices(e.g., Device A 710). Still further, such virtual endpoints maymultiplex and/or de-multiplex messages sent over the distributed bus(e.g., a connection between bus node 712 and bus node 732). In oneaspect, virtual endpoints may receive messages from the local bus node712 or 732, just like real endpoints, and may forward messages over thedistributed bus. As such, the virtual endpoints may forward messages tothe local bus nodes 712 and 732 from the endpoint multiplexeddistributed bus connection. Furthermore, in one embodiment, virtualendpoints that correspond to virtual endpoints on a remote device may bereconnected at any time to accommodate desired topologies of specifictransport types. In such an aspect, UNIX based virtual endpoints may beconsidered local and as such may not be considered candidates forreconnection. Further, TCP-based virtual endpoints may be optimized forone hop routing (e.g., each bus node 712 and 732 may be directlyconnected to each other). Still further, Bluetooth-based virtualendpoints may be optimized for a single pico-net (e.g., one master and nslaves) in which the Bluetooth-based master may be the same bus node asa local master node.

At message sequence step 762, the bus node 712 and the bus node 732 mayexchange bus state information to merge bus instances and enablecommunication over the distributed bus. For example, in one embodiment,the bus state information may include a well-known to unique endpointname mapping, matching rules, routing group, or other suitableinformation. In one embodiment, the state information may becommunicated between the bus node 712 and the bus node 732 instancesusing an interface with local endpoints 714 and 734 communicating withusing a distributed bus based local name. In another aspect, bus node712 and bus node 732 may each may maintain a local bus controllerresponsible for providing feedback to the distributed bus, wherein thebus controller may translate global methods, arguments, signals, andother information into the standards associated with the distributedbus. At message sequence step 764, the bus node 712 and the bus node 732may communicate (e.g., broadcast) signals to inform the respective localendpoints 714 and 734 about any changes introduced during bus nodeconnections, such as described above. In one embodiment, new and/orremoved global and/or translated names may be indicated with name ownerchanged signals. Furthermore, global names that may be lost locally(e.g., due to name collisions) may be indicated with name lost signals.Still further, global names that are transferred due to name collisionsmay be indicated with name owner changed signals and unique names thatdisappear if and/or when the bus node 712 and the bus node 732 becomedisconnected may be indicated with name owner changed signals.

As used above, well-known names may be used to uniquely describe localendpoints 714 and 734. In one embodiment, when communications occurbetween Device A 710 and Device B 730, different well-known name typesmay be used. For example, a device local name may exist only on the busnode 712 associated with Device A 710 to which the bus node 712 directlyattaches. In another example, a global name may exist on all known busnodes 712 and 732, where only one owner of the name may exist on all bussegments. In other words, when the bus node 712 and bus node 732 arejoined and any collisions occur, one of the owners may lose the globalname. In still another example, a translated name may be used when aclient is connected to other bus nodes associated with a virtual bus. Insuch an aspect, the translated name may include an appended end (e.g., alocal endpoint 714 with well-known name “org.foo” connected to thedistributed bus with Globally Unique Identifier “1234” may be seen as“G1234.org.foo”).

At message sequence step 766, the bus node 712 and the bus node 732 maycommunicate (e.g., broadcast) signals to inform other bus nodes ofchanges to endpoint bus topologies. Thereafter, traffic from localendpoint 714 may move through virtual endpoints to reach intended localendpoint 734 on Device B 730. Further, in operation, communicationsbetween local endpoint 714 and local endpoint 734 may use routinggroups. In one aspect, routing groups may enable endpoints to receivesignals, method calls, or other suitable information from a subset ofendpoints. As such, a routing name may be determined by an applicationconnected to a bus node 712 or 732. For example, a P2P application mayuse a unique, well-known routing group name built into the application.Further, bus nodes 712 and 732 may support registering and/orde-registering of local endpoints 714 and 734 with routing groups. Inone embodiment, routing groups may have no persistence beyond a currentbus instance. In another aspect, applications may register for theirpreferred routing groups each time they connect to the distributed bus.Still further, groups may be open (e.g., any endpoint can join) orclosed (e.g., only the creator of the group can modify the group). Yetfurther, a bus node 712 or 732 may send signals to notify other remotebus nodes or additions, removals, or other changes to routing groupendpoints. In such embodiments, the bus node 712 or 732 may send arouting group change signal to other group members whenever a member isadded and/or removed from the group. Further, the bus node 712 or 732may send a routing group change signal to endpoints that disconnect fromthe distributed bus without first removing themselves from the routinggroup.

The IoT is an important industry trend. However, existing and nascentIoT solutions are not unified and do not share a common interface orprotocol. There are a plethora of IoT devices and formats that may needto interconnect. For example, a user may wish to connect a car radiowith a smartphone and an audio player. Beyond the basic need to crosscommunicate, there is an additional missing link. It is not enough tojust transfer the information between devices—there is also a need toincorporate application logic and user input.

Accordingly, the disclosure provides a wireless interconnectivitydevice, or “Cube,” that provides a user interactive application enabledgateway. The Cube may support a number of IoT services, such asproximity services, notifications, ad hoc networking, audio streaming,Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) pipe services, text-to-speech(TTS) services, control services, and/or authentication services. TheCube can provide gateway functionality, but is not a mere translator,but rather an application translator, enabling user input to guide thetranslation functionality. The Cube can provide a bridge interfacebetween IoT networks and devices from different manufacturers and/orrunning different operating systems. The Cube can create an ad hoc localwireless network to enable disparate IoT devices to communicate witheach other. The local wireless network may be, for example, a WiFinetwork, a WiFi Direct network, an LTE Direct network, a Bluetoothnetwork, etc.

When a user adds an IoT device to his/her personal network, or powers onan IoT device, that device can register with the Cube. To register, thenew IoT device may first discover the Cube and/or the Cube may discoverthe new IoT device using a proximity service. In this disclosure, IoTdevices are considered “proximate” to each other if they are in the sameroom or vehicle with each other, and this can be authenticated. A devicemay identify proximate devices by broadcasting a particular sound andlistening for a particular response. The device may also listen for aparticular broadcast sound and provide a particular response to thebroadcasting device. Proximity may also, or alternatively, be defined toinclude a device's proximity to the Cube and to other devices that areconnected to the same Cube for the same service(s) and application(s).In this way, where various devices and users are participating, a deviceis proximal if it is near the Cube and the other participants.

Once the IoT device and the Cube discover each other, the new IoT devicecan connect to the Cube. The Cube may act as a local wireless networkaccess point, such as a WiFi access point, in order to communicate withother IoT devices. Once connected, the IoT device can register with theCube, which can include providing the Cube with its capabilityinformation. The Cube can store the capability information of all IoTdevices on the user's IoT network.

At some point, the user may wish to perform some task with, or retrievesome information from, the user's IoT network. The user can access theCube, which can display the various tasks the IoT network can perform,or the various information the IoT network can provide. For example, theIoT network may include a clock with an integrated thermometer (a firstIoT device in the IoT network) and a video camera that can also detectthe ambient temperature (a second IoT device in the IoT network). Inthat case, the Cube could display icons indicating that the user cantake a video or discover the current indoor temperature. If the userselects the temperature icon, for example, the cube can communicate witheither the clock of the video camera to retrieve the currenttemperature. The user need not know from which device the Cube willretrieve this information. The Cube can then display the retrievedtemperature to the user. Alternatively, at the request of the user, forexample, the Cube can send the retrieved temperature to another IoTdevice, such as the user's smartphone.

The Cube may also provide other functionality. The following descriptionprovides an example of using the Cube to share a playlist in a vehicle.Many vehicles have various connectivity options to the audio system,such as an audio jack and/or Bluetooth. Currently, these vehicle audiosystems only support a single device. However, there may be a number ofpeople in a vehicle, each with a smartphone or media player and aplaylist of songs that they wish to play over the vehicle's audiosystem.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system configuration for using a Cube810 to share a playlist with a vehicle audio system 820. A host 830 maybe connected to the Cube 810 over WiFi, for example. The Cube 810 may beconnected to the vehicle audio system 820 over Bluetooth, for example.The participants 842, 844, and 846 may be connected to the Cube 810 overWiFi, for example. The host 830 may be a user with access to the Cube810, such as the owner or operator of the Cube 810. The host 830 neednot be, but may be, the owner and/or operator of the vehicle audiosystem 820.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an exemplary flow for using the Cube 810 toshare a playlist with the vehicle audio system 820. Referring to FIG.9A, at 910, the Cube 810 launches an application to communicate with thevehicle audio system 820. If the application has not been previouslydownloaded and installed on the Cube 810, the host 830 can power on theCube 810, if not already powered on, then download and install theapplication. If the application is already installed on the Cube 810,the host 830 can select the vehicle audio system application by, forexample, scrolling through a list of available applications on the Cube810. The host 830 then connects his/her UE to the Cube 810 using a localwireless network established by the Cube 810. In the example of FIGS. 8,9A, and 9B, the local wireless network is a WiFi network.

At 920, the Cube 810 can connect to the vehicle audio system 820. Thevehicle audio system 820 may have a discoverable local wireless network.In the example of FIGS. 8, 9A, and 9B, the local wireless network is aBluetooth network. The host 810 can pair the Cube 810 with the vehicleaudio system 820's local wireless network. During the pairing, the Cube810 may display a notification that it is connecting to the vehicleaudio system 820's local wireless network.

Referring to FIG. 9B, at 930, the participants 842, 844, and 846 canlaunch the vehicle audio system application on their UEs and connect tothe Cube 810. The participants 842, 844, and 846 can download andinstall the vehicle audio system application if they have not alreadydone so. The Cube 810 and the UEs of the participants 842, 844, and 846can perform a proximity check, such as a Listen Location (LILO)proximity check, to determine that they are proximate each other. LILOis a mechanism by which a sound is emitted by one device and detected byone or more other devices.

After discovering each other, the UEs of the participants 842, 844, and846 can connect to the Cube 810 via the local wireless network that theCube 810 established in 910. The UEs of the participants 842, 844, and846 may connect to the Cube 810 using a P2P protocol, such as the P2Pprotocol described above with reference to FIGS. 5-7. The host 830 mayindividually authorize the participants 842, 844, and 846 to connect tothe Cube 810's local wireless network via, for example, the userinterface of the Cube 810, or may grant permission to all participantstrying to connect. The host 830's UE may display a notification whenand/or of which participants 842, 844, and 846 are joining, and, ifavailable, the vehicle audio system 820's text-to-speech (TTS) systemmay announce the joining participants 842, 844, and 846 by name. Onceconnected, the participants 842, 844, and 846 can create a profile onthe Cube 810.

At 940, the host 830 and the participants 842, 844, and 846 can sharetheir respective playlists. The Cube 810 can create a global playlist towhich the participants 842, 844, and 846 and the host 830 can add songs.The UEs of the participants 842, 844, and 846 and the host 830 candisplay the global playlist, add songs to a queue of requested songs,and see notifications that the song has been added to the globalplaylist. The host 830, via his/her UE, can manage the global playlist,such as controlling which songs in the queue of requested songs areadded to the playlist, skipping songs, pausing songs, etc. The host 830may also control the vehicle audio system 820's volume via the Cube 810.The Cube 810 receives the songs on the global playlist from the variousparticipants 842, 844, and 846 and streams them to the vehicle audiosystem 820. As an example, the Cube 810 may receive songs on theplaylist and stream them to the vehicle 820's audio system in real time,or may buffer a given number of songs at a time and then stream them tothe vehicle audio system 820 in real time. The vehicle audio system 820can play the songs and, if available, may announce which song it isabout to play using its TTS system.

In this way, multiple devices can come together to form a single globaldevice, where multiple playlists are joined into a single globalplaylist at the Cube 810. This global playlist is then addressable as asingle entity, thereby providing a new representation of a disjoint setof devices (i.e., the host 830 and the participants 842, 844, and 846).

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary flow for providing interconnectivitybetween a plurality of user devices according to the various embodimentsof the disclosure. The user devices may be IoT devices. A wirelessinterconnectivity device, such as the Cube 810 in FIGS. 8, 9A, and 9Bmay perform the flow illustrated in FIG. 10.

In the flow of FIG. 10, one or more user devices, including a first userdevice, may wish to access a second user device. However, the seconduser device may be such that only one user device can access it at atime. Alternatively, or additionally, the one or more user devices,including the first user device, and the second user device may beincompatible with each other. Accordingly, the wirelessinterconnectivity device can provide interconnectivity between theseuser devices. A user of a third user device can manage operationsperformed by the wireless interconnectivity device.

At 1010, the wireless interconnectivity device may discover the one ormore user devices, including the first user device. The wirelessinterconnectivity device may discover the one or more user devices usingan application to detect proximate devices. The one or more userdevices, including the first user device, may discover the wirelessinterconnectivity device using a similar proximity detectionapplication.

At 1020, the wireless interconnectivity device may establish a localwireless network and connect to the one or more user devices, includingthe first user device. The one or more user devices and the wirelessinterconnectivity device may connect to each other over the localwireless network using a P2P protocol. The one or more user devices mayutilize a downloaded application to access the wirelessinterconnectivity device.

At 1030, the wireless interconnectivity device can connect to the seconduser device. The wireless interconnectivity device may connect to thesecond user device using a different local wireless network or adifferent type of local wireless network than the local wireless networkestablished at 1020. For example, at 1020, the wirelessinterconnectivity device may establish a first WiFi network, while at1030, the wireless interconnectivity device may connect to the seconduser device over a second WiFi network. As another example, at 1020, thewireless interconnectivity device may establish a WiFi or WiFi Directnetwork, while at 1030, the wireless interconnectivity device mayconnect to the second user device over a Bluetooth connection. The userof the third user device may instruct the wireless interconnectivitydevice to connect to the second user device.

Although FIG. 10 illustrates the wireless interconnectivity devicediscovering the one or more user devices (block 1010) and establishingthe local wireless network and connecting to the one or more userdevices (block 1020) before connecting to the second user device (block1030), the wireless interconnectivity device may perform theseoperations in the reverse order, i.e., block 1030 followed by blocks1010 and 1020, or substantially simultaneously.

At 1040, the wireless interconnectivity device may receive a requestfrom the first user device to transfer data from the first user deviceto the second user device.

At 1050, the wireless interconnectivity device can determine whether ornot the user, via the third user device, has granted permission totransfer the data from the first user device to the second user device.The third user device can grant permission to transfer data from thefirst user device to the wireless interconnectivity device by permittingthe first user device to connect to the wireless interconnectivitydevice at 1020. Alternatively, the third user device may grant or denypermission to transfer data from the first user device to the wirelessinterconnectivity device based on each request to transfer data receivedby the wireless interconnectivity device from the first user device.

At 1060, if the third user device has granted permission, the wirelessinterconnectivity device may transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device. Otherwise, at 1070, if the third userdevice has not granted permission, the request is denied.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 10, the wireless interconnectivitydevice may receive a request from a fourth user device of the one ormore user devices to transfer data from the fourth user device to thesecond user device. The wireless interconnectivity device may determinewhether or not the third user device has granted permission to transferthe data from the fourth user device to the second user device. If thethird user device has granted permission, the wireless interconnectivitydevice may transfer the data from the fourth user device to the seconduser device. The third user device may control the order that data istransferred from the first user device and the fourth user device to thesecond user device. The wireless interconnectivity device may create aglobal playlist that includes the data transferred from the first userdevice and the data transferred from the fourth user device. The globalplaylist may be addressable as a single entity and provide arepresentation of the first user device and the fourth user device.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary wireless interconnectivity device 1100,such as the Cube 810 in FIG. 8. The wireless interconnectivity device1100 may include a display 1105, a touchscreen and/or keypad 1110, aspeaker 1115, and a microphone 1120. The wireless interconnectivitydevice 1100 may also include two or more transceivers for discoveringand communicating with other IoT devices. In the example of FIG. 11, thewireless interconnectivity device 1100 includes a first transceiver 1125and a second transceiver 1130, and may optionally include any number ofadditional transceivers, such as a third transceiver 1135 and/or afourth transceiver 1140. The transceivers 1125 to 1140 may betransceivers for, for example, local wireless networks, such as WiFinetworks, WiFi Direct networks, LTE Direct networks, Bluetooth networks,etc. There should be at least one transceiver for one type of localwireless network and another transceiver for another type of network. Inthe example of FIG. 11, two of the transceivers 1125 to 1140 may be forone type of local wireless network and the other two transceivers 1125to 1140 may be for another type of local wireless network. For example,transceivers 1125 and 1135 may be WiFi transceivers, while transceivers1130 and 1140 may be Bluetooth transceivers.

The wireless interconnectivity device 1100 may also include a powersupply 1145 and an accelerometer 1150. The power supply 1145 may be awireless power supply, such as a WiPower™ wireless power supply. Thewireless interconnectivity device 1100 may also include a memory 1155and a processor 1160. The memory 1155 may be ROM, RAM, EEPROM, flashcards, or any memory common to computer platforms.

The display 1105, the touchscreen/keypad 1110, the speaker 1115, themicrophone 1120, the transceivers 1125 to 1140, the memory 1155, and theprocessor 1160 may all be used cooperatively to load, store and executethe various functions disclosed herein, and thus the logic to performthese functions may be distributed over various elements. Alternatively,the functionality could be incorporated into one discrete component.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure can include a wirelessinterconnectivity device (e.g., wireless interconnectivity device 1100)including the ability to perform the functions described herein. As willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art, the various logic elementscan be embodied in discrete elements, software modules executed on aprocessor (e.g., processor 1160) or any combination of software andhardware to achieve the functionality disclosed herein. For example,first and second transceivers 1125 and 1130, processor 1160, memory1155, and/or touchscreen/keypad 1110 may all be used cooperatively toload, store and execute the various functions disclosed herein and thusthe logic to perform these functions may be distributed over variouselements. Alternatively, the functionality could be incorporated intoone discrete component. Therefore, the features of the wirelessinterconnectivity device 1100 in FIG. 11 are to be considered merelyillustrative and the disclosure is not limited to the illustratedfeatures or arrangement.

For example, where the wireless interconnectivity device providesinterconnectivity between a plurality of user devices, the first orsecond transceiver 1125 and 1130 may discover a first user device of theplurality of user devices. The other of the first or second transceivers1125 and 1130 may discover a second user device of the plurality of userdevices. One of the first or second transceivers 1125 and 1130, e.g.,the first transceiver 1125, may connect to the first user device over afirst local wireless network, such as a WiFi network. The other of thefirst or second transceivers 1125 and 1130, e.g., the second transceiver1130, may connect to the second user device over a second local wirelessnetwork, such as a Bluetooth network. The processor 1160, via the firsttransceiver 1125, may receive a request from the first user device totransfer data from the first user device to the second user device. Theprocessor 1160 may determine whether or not a third user device hasgranted permission to transfer the data from the first user device tothe second user device. In an aspect, the third user device may beconnected to the wireless interconnectivity device via the first localwireless network, and the processor 1160 may receive the permission fromthe third user device via the first transceiver 1125. The processor1160, the memory 1155, and the first and second transceivers 1125 and1130 may cooperatively transfer the data from the first user device tothe second user device based on the third user device having grantedpermission to transfer the data from the first user device to the seconduser device.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted to departfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form ofstorage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupledto the processor such that the processor can read information from, andwrite information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, thestorage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and thestorage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in an IoTdevice. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL,or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes CD, laser disc, optical disc, DVD, floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically and/or optically withlasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of thedisclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosureas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing interconnectivity between aplurality of user devices performed by a wireless interconnectivitydevice, comprising: connecting to a first user device of the pluralityof user devices over a first local wireless network; connecting to asecond user device of the plurality of user devices over a second localwireless network; receiving a request from the first user device totransfer data from the first user device to the second user device;determining whether or not a third user device has granted permission totransfer the data from the first user device to the second user device;and transferring the data from the first user device to the second userdevice based on the third user device having granted permission totransfer the data from the first user device to the second user device.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user device utilizes adownloaded application to access the wireless interconnectivity device.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user device is unable toaccess the second user device without the wireless interconnectivitydevice providing interconnectivity.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe third user device grants permission to transfer data from the firstuser device to the wireless interconnectivity device by permitting thefirst user device to connect to the wireless interconnectivity device.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the third user device grants or deniespermission to transfer data from the first user device to the wirelessinterconnectivity device based on each request to transfer data receivedby the wireless interconnectivity device from the first user device. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a request from afourth user device of the plurality of user devices to transfer datafrom the fourth user device to the second user device; determiningwhether or not the third user device has granted permission to transferthe data from the fourth user device to the second user device; andtransferring the data from the fourth user device to the second userdevice based on the third user device having granted permission.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising: receiving input from the thirduser device controlling an order that the data is transferred from thefirst user device and the fourth user device to the second user device.8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: creating a global playlistthat includes the data transferred from the first user device and thedata transferred from the fourth user device.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the global playlist is addressable as a single entity andprovides a representation of the first user device and the fourth userdevice.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: discovering thefirst user device; and discovering the second user device.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the wireless interconnectivity devicediscovers the first user device using a proximity detection application.12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: establishing, by thewireless interconnectivity device, the first local wireless network. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless interconnectivity deviceconnects to the second user device based on a command from a user of thethird user device.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first localwireless network comprises a same type of local wireless network as thesecond local wireless network.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst local wireless network comprises a different type of localwireless network as the second local wireless network.
 16. A wirelessinterconnectivity device for providing interconnectivity between aplurality of user devices, comprising: a first transceiver configured toconnect to a first user device of the plurality of user devices over afirst local wireless network; a second transceiver configured to connectto a second user device of the plurality of user devices over a secondlocal wireless network, wherein the first transceiver is furtherconfigured to receive a request from the first user device to transferdata from the first user device to the second user device; and aprocessor configured to determine whether or not a third user device hasgranted permission to transfer the data from the first user device tothe second user device, wherein the second transceiver is furtherconfigured to transfer the data from the first user device to the seconduser device based on the third user device having granted permission totransfer the data from the first user device to the second user device.17. The wireless interconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the firstuser device is unable to access the second user device without thewireless interconnectivity device providing interconnectivity.
 18. Thewireless interconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the third userdevice grants permission to transfer data from the first user device tothe wireless interconnectivity device by permitting the first userdevice to connect to the wireless interconnectivity device.
 19. Thewireless interconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the third userdevice grants or denies permission to transfer data from the first userdevice to the wireless interconnectivity device based on each request totransfer data received by the wireless interconnectivity device from thefirst user device.
 20. The wireless interconnectivity device of claim16, wherein the first transceiver is further configured to receive arequest from a fourth user device of the plurality of user devices totransfer data from the fourth user device to the second user device, andwherein the processor is further configured to determine whether or notthe third user device has granted permission to transfer the data fromthe fourth user device to the second user device, and wherein the secondtransceiver is further configured to transfer the data from the fourthuser device to the second user device based on the third user devicehaving granted permission.
 21. The wireless interconnectivity device ofclaim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to receive inputfrom the third user device controlling an order that the data istransferred from the first user device and the fourth user device to thesecond user device.
 22. The wireless interconnectivity device of claim20, wherein the processor is further configured to create a globalplaylist that includes the data transferred from the first user deviceand the data transferred from the fourth user device.
 23. The wirelessinterconnectivity device of claim 22, wherein the global playlist isaddressable as a single entity and provides a representation of thefirst user device and the fourth user device.
 24. The wirelessinterconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the first transceiver isfurther configured to discover the first user device based on aproximity detection application.
 25. The wireless interconnectivitydevice of claim 16, wherein the first transceiver is further configuredto establish the first local wireless network.
 26. The wirelessinterconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the second transceiver isfurther configured to connect to the second user device based on acommand from a user of the third user device.
 27. The wirelessinterconnectivity device of claim 16, wherein the first local wirelessnetwork comprises a same type of local wireless network as the secondlocal wireless network.
 28. The wireless interconnectivity device ofclaim 16, wherein the first local wireless network comprises a differenttype of local wireless network as the second local wireless network. 29.An apparatus for providing interconnectivity between a plurality of userdevices, comprising: means for connecting to a first user device of theplurality of user devices over a first local wireless network; means forconnecting to a second user device of the plurality of user devices overa second local wireless network; means for receiving a request from thefirst user device to transfer data from the first user device to thesecond user device; means for determining whether or not a third userdevice has granted permission to transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device; and means for transferring the datafrom the first user device to the second user device based on the thirduser device having granted permission to transfer the data from thefirst user device to the second user device.
 30. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium for providing interconnectivity between aplurality of user devices, comprising: at least one instruction to causea wireless interconnectivity device to connect to a first user device ofthe plurality of user devices over a first local wireless network; atleast one instruction to cause a wireless interconnectivity device toconnect to a second user device of the plurality of user devices over asecond local wireless network; at least one instruction to cause awireless interconnectivity device to receive a request from the firstuser device to transfer data from the first user device to the seconduser device; at least one instruction to cause a wirelessinterconnectivity device to determine whether or not a third user devicehas granted permission to transfer the data from the first user deviceto the second user device; and at least one instruction to cause awireless interconnectivity device to transfer the data from the firstuser device to the second user device based on the third user devicehaving granted permission to transfer the data from the first userdevice to the second user device.